ML20141A951

Responds to Re State Participation in Commission Efforts Relating to External Regulation of DOE & Inform That Issued Raised Concerning DOE Contractor Exemptions Will Be Referred to Task Force for Consideration

ML20141A951
Person / Time
Issue date:	06/13/1997
From:	Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
To:	Volpe J KENTUCKY, COMMONWEALTH OF
References
NUDOCS 9706230223
Download: ML20141A951 (5)

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UNITED STATES 4

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION j

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20666-0001 June 13, 1997

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CHAIRMAN Dr. John A. Volpe, Manager Radiation Control Commonwealth of Kentucky Department for Public Health Frankfort, Kentucky 40621-0001

Dear Dr. Volpe:

I am responding to your letter of April 21, 1997, regarding State participation in the Commission's efforts relating to the external regulation of the Department of Energy (D0E). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently created a Task Force to develop a plan for NRC regulation of certain DOE nuclear facilities. The issues that you have raised, particularly the need for close coordination with Agreement Statn and the need to determine whether machine-generated radiation and natwaily occurring radioactive material (NORM) will be included in the extarnal regulation provided by NRC, are within the scope of the Task Force Charter. Also, the issue you raised about DOE contractor exemptions will be referred to the Task Force for consideration, during its discussions.

We intend to coordinate our approach carefully with the affected States' approaches to the tasks related to this undertaking.

The importance of State participation also was emphasized by the State participants in the Commission's Strategic Assessment process. As you noted in your letter, these participants indicated that the States have established a special committee to address Federal Facilities.

It would be very helpful to our coordination efforts if a central point of contact with the States were designated. We will be contacting the Organization of Agreement States and the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors to discuss approaches for State j

participation.

We appreciate your concern and will contact you soon concerning the Task Force's initial activities.

g Sincerely,

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Shirley Ann Jackson

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William Dornsife, CRCPD Michael Mobley, State of Tennessee John Erikson, State of Washington tpf NllIIlNllIllINII\\l\\\\\\\\ll\\

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COMMONWEALDI OF KENTUCKY o

FRANKFORT 40621-0001 1

DEPARTMENT FOR PUBLIC HEALUI April 21, 1997 Shirley Jackson, Chair U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555

Dear Chair Jackson:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's recent decision to i

endorse taking responsibility for regulatory oversight of certain Department of Energy activities provides a first I

step in unification of radiological issues under a single federal agency.

This approach provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate to the regulated community and the public that radiological issues will be addressed utilizing a single set of regulations, standards, risk assessment /

management approaches, and guidelines.

We request the Commission provide state radiation control agencies which have DOE facilities within their borders an opportunity to work with the Commission in the developing approaches for the regulatory control of these facilities.

I Agreements with DOE or legislation for assuming regulatory responsibility for DOE facilities should reflect Agreement States' roles with regard to AEA and other radioactive material.

All sources of ionizing radiation represent public health concerns and need to be addressed in any action dealing with the regulation of DOE facilities.

The Conference of Radiation Control Program Director, Inc.

hac established a Federal Facilities Committee for review and evaluation of activitien at DOE facilities.

The NRC and DOE should consider bringing this Committee into the discussion relative to the external regulation of DOE facilities.

Finally, with the major focus of DOE on environmental restoration, the present exemption for DOE contractors and subcontractors is not justified and should be modified to allow for the same licensing and regulatory oversight that is required for contractors conducting decommissioning and decontamination activities at NRC and Agreement State facilities.

"An Equal Opportunity tmplov'r M/F/H" I

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Shirley Jackson, Chair j

Page Two April 21, 1997 j

Bringing state radiation control programs and the CRCPD Federal Facilities Committee into these discussions would be

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beneficial to all parties in the transition to external i

regulation of DOE facilities, i

i Thank you fe your attention to these matters.

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John A. Volpe, Ph.D., Manager Kentucky-Radiation Control e

C: Commissioner Dicus, NRC Commissioner Rodgers, NRC Commissioner Diaz, NRC Commissioner McGaffigan, NRC Joseph L.

Callan, EDO, NRC Frederico Pena, Secretary, DOE Charles M..Hardin, Executive Director CRCPD Jimmy Hodges, Manager, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant

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